Opinion Poll: Bluetooth adapter or Newer iphone

[roadking0678]

Hey just wanted some opinions (from people with experience). So I have the Kaw 30pin ipod/iphone adapter for my Voyager...but it seems my iphone 5 that I use for music and navigation has hit it's limit with updates and now can't use Waze anymore. I use an android phone so I'm torn on getting a newer iphone for music and nav or just get a bluetooth adapter that keeps the handlebar controls (bovee, carpro coolstream) and just use my phone. Im not wanting to change the factory headunit. Just wanting to hear the pros/cons of each option from people that are currently or have in the past tried these 2 options.



Question 1: For those that have the 30pin ipod adapter and use a new iphone with the lightning connector...does the 30pin to Lightning adapter work well with the Kaw system?


Question 2: If you use a 30pin bluetooth adapter, which one? How reliable has it been? Any issues/complaints?


Thank You!

[Blue Bagger]

I use the coolstream pro to bluetooth my android and it works great. only thing will be that you will not be able to see what song is playing on the display. for me, this isn't an issue, for others it might be. good luck on your search.

[roadking0678]

Originally Posted by Blue Bagger

I use the coolstream pro to bluetooth my android and it works great. only thing will be that you will not be able to see what song is playing on the display. for me, this isn't an issue, for others it might be. good luck on your search.

Thanks for the reply! Based on a lot of videos of people that had a bluetooth adapter they all later ended up changing their headunit so I went ahead and bought a used iPhone 6s so I could keep using Waze for navigation and music.


Sucks hauling 2 phones around when Im on the bike but im just not in a place where im ready to change the headunit because I figure while i'm at it i would proably upgrade the speakers at the same time. Right now I'm about to tear into fixing my 2nd complaint about these bikes (2nd being the factory tuning and temps)...the handlebars. Just got my JSR 12" apes in, so going to be busy putting those in and replacing fork seals at the same time since they both decided to burp out fluid from the top during the last freeze we got.



Im still in shock that Kaw quit selling the ipod adapter..but the new bikes still have the same stereo so I'm not sure what they were thinking! Even with doing a stereo upgrade the Voyager/Vaquero is still a bargain for what you get.

[Peg]

Sorry, I'm late to the thread, and this is probably information you no longer need - but - here's a couple of screen snips from a post I've just made on another forum in relation to BT and our Voyagers. From what I've read on FB, there are only a few reliable BT units that are recommended... Coolstream being the preferred one.

[mrt]

I use the Coolstream with my iPhone X and works well.

[mbarr10]

Guess i'm lazy. Just went to ebay and purchased a used I-pod touch 1st gen for 20 bucks. Loaded music from my PC onto it and plugged it in. Done.
It charges itself and I just leave it in the glove box.

[markc9503]

I tried using and 30-pin to Lighting adapter so I could use my iPhone and it never worked well for me. The vibration would cause connection losses and I would have to stop, unplug the phone, and then reconnect it and that was a pain. In the end I went to a local pawn shop and bought a 30-pin 8GB iPod nano for $20 and that has worked fine. I can still sync it with my iTunes library at home and, after setting it to downsample to 128 kbps, holds all the music I need.